1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a high performance sport safety helmet and particularly, although not exclusively, to a high performance sport safety helmet which has utility in water sports.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With the increasing emphasis on professionalism in sport and the increased interest in sport generally both from a health point of view and an entertainment point of view, participants are becoming more and more conscious of the need to take appropriate measures to reduce the likelihood of injury which can occur from participating in their sport. This is not only to increase the enjoyment that can be obtained from actually performing the sport, but also as a means of maximizing their participation in the sport particularly if that participation constitutes a means of income to the participant or affiliates prospering from the sport.
The use of safety helmets to prevent or mitigate the likelihood of head injury was adopted by participants in many sports involving the possibility of physical contact with the surrounding environment, quite early in the piece, due to the quite major injuries that can be sustained to the head region from such contact. The first forms of these helmets were quite bulky where the major consideration was protection to the head region, rather than considerations of the impact that the helmet would have on high level performance. For example, safety helmets became compulsory apparel in car racing, motorbike racing, speed boat racing and the like quite some time ago, where impairment of physical movement did not impact that much upon high level performance.
In sports where there was a greater need for physical movement in order to optimize performance, the introduction of safety helmets, has been very slow. In these sports, such as football, cricket, surfing, sailboarding, etc., participants have preferred to take a risk by not wearing bulky protective head gear so that this would not impede their performance at all. Consequently, in these sports, there has always been the occasional severe head injury as a result of competitors not using protective head gear. In some instances, this has prompted the regulatory body of the sport to introduce laws to insist upon the wearing of protective head gear so as to minimize the likelihood of head injury occurring. This has been reasonably successful in sports such as grid iron, cycling and a variety of winter sports.
Although such rules are capable of being enforced when the sport is played at a professional level, there has been great difficulty in insisting upon compulsory wearing of head gear at the amateur level, and indeed in other sports where professionalism is still evolving.
One of the major problems confronted with encouraging people to adopt protective head gear is that the design of the head gear in most instances has not been specifically customized for the particular sport involved, and in most cases, the actual helmet design is based upon previous specification requirements of another sport where the helmet has an established market, making it viable for the manufacturer to still produce the helmet.
As previously discussed, where the major market for safety helmets over the years has been forged in those sports which have relied upon the use of helmets primarily for protection purposes and where the requirements for physical movement are not that great, these helmets have traditionally been bulky. Consequently, there is high participant resistance to adopting helmets which are too bulky and consequently can impede significantly the performance of the participant in the particular sport, particularly where the nature of the possible impact that would occur in the head region is not of the same magnitude as that associated with sports such as motor car racing and the like.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple but effective design of helmet which provides a degree of protection from impact or other impingement of the head, of either an active or passive nature, but which has minimal effect upon the physical mobility of the wearer so enabling the wearer to maintain a high level of performance while simultaneously providing protection to the head of the wearer.
As a result of the increasing competitiveness of certain water sports such as sailboarding, surfing and the like, there is a greater need for facial protection from impact with not only the water but also with the apparatus used in the sport. For example, sailboarders now are performing radical forward loops and the like and in many cases are receiving facial injuries from collisions with the sailboard. Similarly, surfers have been encountering similar problems for many years with the recoil of the surfboard as a result of the retention of the surfboard by a leg rope attached to the legs of the surfer.
Accordingly, it is a further and preferred, although not exclusive object of the invention to provide an effective design of helmet which is particularly suited to water sports.
With respect to the effects of passive impingement of the head, such as exposure to ultraviolet radiation from the sun, the present invention also has significant utility. Moreover, most recreational activities and sports, in particular water sports, are performed outdoors where the participants are exposed to ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Participants in recreational activities and sports such as cycling, hang gliding, skate board riding and especially water sports activities such as sailboarding, surfing, yachting, wave skiing, water skiing, canoeing, jet skiing, snow skiing and the like, are all exposed to direct sunlight as well as reflective sunlight from their surrounding environment. Although it has previously been known to use head gear provided with small peak visors in these activities and sports in order to provide eye and facial protection from the sun, such devices only protect a relatively small portion of the face and stop only minimal glare to the eyes. Significantly, they do not provide any protection against direct impact, and do not provide any protection at all to the ears of a wearer.
In the case of water sports, a participant subjected to the reflective glare of sunlight from the water would find little protection by the provision of the peak visor since the direction of the reflective sunlight is from below the height of the peak visor.
Accordingly, it is a preferred, although not exclusive object of the invention to provide protection from the effects of ultraviolet radiation to persons engaged in recreational or sporting activities requiring such protection, while providing for impact protection and protection to the ears of a wearer of the helmet.
Additionally, the provision of peak visors on head gear can also create difficulties for wearers of such head gear in water sports, whereby the peak visor may interfere with vision and provide a surface which may impede the flow of water or air past the face of the user in activities where such an impediment is undesirable. For example, a surfer pushing through a wave or falling into the water could have his or her head gear removed by the force of the water against the peak visor or at least be subjected to an uncomfortable pulling force against the neck of the wearer if such head gear included a chin strap.
It is a further preferred although not exclusive object of the invention to provide a helmet which has particular, although not exclusive utility for persons engaged in water sports or recreational activities where there is a need to maintain a clear field of vision and be aerodynamically and hydrodynamically streamlined so as not to impede the passage of a wearer.
In addition, people involved in water sports in cold conditions, for example, sailboard riders, surfboard riders and the like, also need ear protection from the cold wind and water. Overexposure of the ear to cold wind and water causes exostosis, i.e. bone growth in the ear canal. Head gear such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,672 which includes a rubber peak hood and covers for the ears, have a tendency to trap water in the ears but do not provide adequate draining of water therefrom. In order to prevent or mitigate the effects of exostosis, it is necessary to quickly release water from the ear which has been trapped therein, continuously. In the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,612,672, the release of water from the ear is not performed efficiently since the drainage hole must-be disposed lower than the level of trapped water within the ear canal before drainage of this trapped water would occur. Thus, it would be necessary to tilt the head of the wearer from one side to the other regularly to alter the disposition of the drain relative to the ear canal to achieve adequate drainage.
It is another preferred although not exclusive object to provide protection from the long term effects of exposure to salt water and the like, so as to obviate or at least mitigate the occurrence of exostosis with participants in water sports or the like.
Another deficiency with previously designed helmets such as those disclosed in Australian Patent No. 418643, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,400,407 and 3,721,994 and European Patent No. EP 15-796 is that inadequate ventilation is provided to the head of the wearer and thus the prolonged wearing of such helmets causes much discomfort to the wearer where the wearer is engaged in an activity causing perspiration or heating of the head area.
Accordingly, it is another preferred although not exclusive object of the present invention to provide a helmet which can also adequately ventilate the head of a wearer.
Finally, a deficiency with previous designs of helmets as disclosed in the previously cited patent specifications is the inability of those helmets provided with visors to easily clean the visor from a build up in water vapor or droplets on the visor caused by either the breathing of the wearer or from the environment. Helmet designs disclosed in Australian Patent No. 516898 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,239,843 provide complex means for cleaning the visor by means of a heated airflow across the visor face, which is not practical for use in recreational or sporting activities. Additionally, such means proves ineffective in removing solid particles which have become inadvertently deposited on the surface of the visor.
It is also a preferred but not exclusive object to obviate or at least mitigate the disadvantages and inefficiencies of previous designs of helmets having visors of the type described above.